Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei told Bolivian President Evo Morales that Iran supports whoever confronts bullying powers like the U.S., an Iranian newspaper reported on Tuesday. President Morales praised Iran for inspiring and supporting Bolivia’s resistance to Western domination.
In a meeting with the Bolivian president on Tuesday evening in Tehran, Ayatollah Khamenei praised Bolivia’s and other Latin and South American countries’ “heroic resistance against the bullying of hegemonic imperialist powers.” He also said that U.S. policies were creating an identity crisis for young people in Latin America and called those policies “dangerous” and “aggressive.”
“These aggressive and domineering policies could only be resisted through strengthening of wills and improvement of regional alliances and cooperation,” Khamenei told Morales. “This resistance, I believe, has more weight and value than nationalization of oil industry in Bolivia during your incumbency.
“Iran was the first country to free itself from under the yoke of serfdom of the US by a popular movement led by Imam Khomeini (RA), and uniquely and single-handedly resisted a host of pressures and restrictions imposed on us by the two superpowers of the time; based on this premise, the Islamic Republic of Iran supports groups or countries who heroically resist against bullying powers.”
Khamenei also warned Morales that U.S. policies are “inculcating an American mentality in your youth” that could potentially trigger a “coup d’état [that] will bring about their domination to all aspects of life.”
Morales, according to the report, was elated to meet the Ayatollah, addressing him as a “spiritual father” and “sage leader whose inspiring and hope-bestowing remarks had taught many invaluable lessons about the revolutions, especially in South America, [and] on U.S. interference in the internal affairs of countries in the region.”
U.S. officials had warned Morales not to visit Tehran, but Morales ignored the warnings, saying, “I strongly emphasize that Bolivia is a sovereign country, and will not need the permission of others in its relations with any country, especially Iran; we will not succumb to the pressures by the U.S. officials.”
He further pointed to the nationalization of Bolivia’s oil industry as “reinstat[ing Bolivia’s] independence and national sovereignty, effectively ending years of western denigration of and domination over our nation and values.”
Morales said that his country viewed Iran’s positions with admiration and expressed his belief that Iran would continue on its road to success. “We invest much hope in broadening of ties in all fields of interest,” said Morales.
“Bolivia will remain a sovereign nation and resistant as well with inspiration and support coming from revolutionary countries such as Iran.”
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